Blackstone sitting on $55bn of real estate dry powder

Blackstone has some $55bn (£42bn) of dry powder in the form of undrawn capital marked for real estate deals in a market its bosses see picking up. The figure at the end of the third-quarter is down from $65.2bn at the end of 2023. Over the third quarter, the firm brought in real estate inflows of $5.8bn, taking assets under management to $325.1bn. Some $3.7bn was deployed over the quarter, including the acquisition of data centre operator AirTrunk. The firm made real estate realisations of $7.4bn including the sale of the EdR student housing portfolio in BREIT, Monte Napoleone 8 and the refinancing of a US logistics portfolio. Over the three months the firm invested $54bn across all asset classes, its highest quarterly figure for more than two years. It has now deployed $123bn over the past 12 months since the cost of capital peaked. Chairman and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman said: “The third quarter also represented the highest amount of overall fund appreciation in three years, and our limited partners entrusted us with over $40bn of inflows. Blackstone is exceptionally well positioned as the reference firm in the alternatives industry, with leading platforms in compelling, high-growth areas.”